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Pompey Takeover Saga

Fitzhugh Fella

By Fitzhugh Fella,
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pedg

pedg

Posted
Posted
My gut instinct is that the FL won't interfere but if they do, to allow the season to be completed, it will cost more points.

 

This.

 

But even then it may open a can of worms as if they are put in the position where they are certain to be relegated what happens if they don't really try in their remaining fixtures? The league go on about maintaining fairness and its possible the only way to do that without leaving them open to legal challenges from a nearly ran on either promotion or relegation is to let them be liquidated.

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CB Saint

CB Saint

Posted
Posted
My gut instinct is that the FL won't interfere but if they do, to allow the season to be completed, it will cost more points.

 

I don't how the FL can let them finish. The only way the administrator will allow it is if the FL guarentee the deficit between operatingcosts and income between now and the end of the season. Also the FL would have to demonstrate why that would be of additional benefit to the creditors of PFC 2010. Horrendous precedent to set considering the state of the finances of a number of other league clubs.

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saint si

saint si

Posted
Posted
I don't how the FL can let them finish. The only way the administrator will allow it is if the FL guarentee the deficit between operatingcosts and income between now and the end of the season. Also the FL would have to demonstrate why that would be of additional benefit to the creditors of PFC 2010. Horrendous precedent to set considering the state of the finances of a number of other league clubs.

 

Supporting them just to get to the end of the season and complete their fixtures would make a mockery of the games they played in. What motivation will PFC have to effectively compete if the club is not going to last beyond the end of the season and therefore avoiding relegation is no incentive? Clubs who have played PFC earlier in the season will rightly complain.

 

Expunge all points and act as though they never existed - only fair solution.

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70's Mike

70's Mike

Posted
Posted
83

thereader

Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 05:02 PM

I have heard this through the grape vine. Sadly Portsmouth will not complete the season. I really hope this reliable source is talking rubbish for once. He has informed me that Portsmouth will partner up with United Services Portsmouth. If you've not seen already, the United Services pitch on Park Road, which is the road leading into Gunwharf, is undergoing massive improvements. The entire pitch was dug up last week ago and a mass amount of draining systems have been installed. They have also been leveling out the grounds too. This is apparently in preparation for next season. It is believed that by the newly formed Portsmouth playing there, Gunwharf has the potential to further flourish too.I really do hope this isn't the case, but I thought i'd give you all a heads up on the possibility. PUP

 

Um!! That's where HCC used to play methinks!

 

behind the cricket ground

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Gingeletiss

Gingeletiss

Posted
Posted

May 27, 2009: Portsmouth reveal takeover bid from Sulaiman Al Fahim.

July 1: Glen Johnson sold to Liverpool for £18 million.

July 21: Al Fahim passes Premier League's fit-and-proper persons test and immediately joins Portsmouth board.

July 27: Peter Crouch sold to Tottenham for £9m.

Aug 19: Club open negotiations with a consortium fronted by chief executive Peter Storrie over a possible takeover.

Aug 26: Al Fahim finally completes takeover.

Aug 28: Sylvain Distin sold to Everton.

Sept 1: Niko Kranjcar sold to Tottenham.

Oct 1: Club admit failing to pay players' wages on time.

Oct 5: Ali Al Faraj becomes new owner after acquiring 90 per cent of the shares from Al Fahim.

Oct 7: Avram Grant appointed director of football.

Oct 28: Premier League issue embargo on Portsmouth registering new players until they pay off debts to Chelsea and Arsenal for the signings of Glen Johnson and Lassana Diarra respectively.

Oct 30: Portsmouth receive loan of around £17m from Portpin Limited, a company which is owned by Balram Chainrai.

Nov 24: Manager Paul Hart sacked.

Nov 26: Club announce Grant will be their next manager.

Dec 3: Portsmouth confirm payment of players' wages has again been delayed.

Dec 4: Club announce players have been paid.

Dec 5: Grant earns his first points with a 2-0 win over Burnley at Fratton Park.

Dec 10: Portsmouth respond to speculation over their future by insisting they are not about to go into administration. In a statement they also reveal HM Revenue and Customs have been paid £2m and "other historical arrears are being dealt with on an ongoing basis." The club also stresses Storrie will not be leaving his post as chief executive.

Dec 19: Beat Liverpool 2-0 at Fratton Park.

Dec 30: HMRC issue a winding up petition against Portsmouth. Club say petition is in respect of "VAT, PAYE and national Insurance contributions which either have been, or are about to be paid, or are disputed". They outline their willingness to fight HMRC in the High Court.

Dec 31: Former owner Alexandre Gaydamak claims he is still owed £28m by Portsmouth. Confirmation that the players and staff have not been paid on time for the third time in four months.

Jan 28, 2010: Premier League lifts transfer embargo for loan and free transfers after confirming Portsmouth no longer owe other clubs any money. The league had diverted around £5m of Portsmouth's broadcast payments direct to other clubs.

Jan 29: Storrie suggests his position is almost untenable after negotiations to sell Asmir Begovic and Younes Kaboul take place without his knowledge.

Jan 31: Transfer window closes with Kaboul and Begovic sold for £8.5m. Premier League keeps £2m of those fees to go straight to other clubs that have payments due from Portsmouth at the end of January.

Feb 2-3: All Portsmouth staff and players belatedly paid for January.

Feb 4: Chainrai becomes fourth different owner of the season, taking the 90 per cent stake that was held by Al-Faraj.

Feb 9: Talks with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs break down as fears grow for Portsmouth's future as a football club.

Feb 10: High Court give the club one week to draw up a statement of its financial affairs as it bids to avoid the HMRC winding-up order.

Feb 17: Portsmouth present statement of financial affairs at High Court.

Feb 18: The club confirm they have asked the Premier League for permission to sell players outside the transfer window.

Feb 20: Bid to trade outside the transfer window rejected by the Premier League.

Feb 21: Storrie reveals a South African consortium is pursuing a deal to buy the cash-strapped club.

Feb 22: Former owner Al Fahim quits as non-executive chairman at Fratton Park and passes on his 10 per cent shareholding to the club's supporters' trust.

Feb 23: Chainrai confirms Portsmouth will go into administration if they have not found a new buyer by Feb 26. Earlier, New Zealand-based businessman Victor Cattermole admits his interest in buying Portsmouth, but says a deal will not be in place before the club's date at the High Court on March 1.

Feb 25: The club's owner's spokesman confirms Portsmouth have started the process of going into administration.

Feb 26: Portsmouth confirm they have gone into administration.

March 1: HMRC challenge the voluntary administration process.

March 6: A 2-0 home win over Birmingham in the FA Cup quarter-finals relieves the pressure at Fratton Park.

March 10: Administrator Andrew Andronikou confirms 85 of the club's employees have been made redundant but that he is receiving "enquiries on a daily basis" regarding a takeover.

March 12: Storrie steps down as chief executive, but continues to work for the club as a consultant.

March 16: HMRC officially drops its challenge over Portsmouth's move into administration.

March 17: The Premier League confirm Portsmouth have been deducted nine points with immediate effect for going into administration.

April 10: Relegation to the Championship confirmed as West Ham beat Sunderland.

April 11: Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham after extra-time in a semi-final at Wembley.

May 15: Beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

May 20: Manager Grant resigns following the end of the season.

June 1: New chief executive David Lampitt takes up his role.

Jun 17: Tax officials insist the club still owe £37m in unpaid bills to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Jun 18: Steve Cotterill signs a three-year deal to become the club's new manager.

Jul 15: HMRC lodge papers in the High Court to appeal the Company Voluntary Agreement with Portsmouth, which could prevent the club exiting administration.

Aug 5: HMRC lose their case in the High Court and say they do not intend to appeal, clearing Portsmouth to begin the Championship season at Coventry on Saturday.

Aug 7: Season starts with a 2-0 defeat.

Sept 24: Pompey beat Leicester 6-1 at Fratton Park to register their first league win of the campaign.

Oct 19: A fourth win in five Championship games - the other was a draw - moves Pompey to within five points of the play-off places after 12 matches.

Oct 22: Portsmouth issue a statement claiming "it appears likely that the club will now be closed down and liquidated" by the administrators as they are unable to support the continued trading of the club.

Oct 24: The Football League agree Portsmouth’s exit from administration on the condition that owner Chainrai cannot take any capital out of the club until all of the creditors are repaid.

Oct 29: Portsmouth confirm the appointment of Chainrai as the club's new chairman.

Dec 16: Portsmouth manager Cotterill's selection problems hindered further as club can't afford salaries of Richard Hughes and Michael Brown.

June 1, 2011: Portsmouth have another set of new owners after Convers Sports Initiatives, controlled by London-based Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, confirm they had bought the Fratton Park outfit following approval by the Football League.

Oct 14: Cotterill leaves Portsmouth to become Nottingham Forest's new manager.

Nov 10: Pompey confirm Michael Appleton has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal to become their new manager.

Nov 23: A Europe-wide arrest warrant his issued in Lithuania for Antonov, the joint owner of Portsmouth, for alleged forgery.

Nov 29: CSI, the company that bought Portsmouth in June, goes into administration following the arrest of its main shareholder, Antonov.

Jan 24, 2012: Portsmouth issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid tax bill of £1.6million.

Feb 13: Portsmouth apply to go into administration for the second time in two years and face incurring a 10-point deduction from the Football League.

Feb 17: Portsmouth are separated from relegation by goal difference alone after the stricken Championship club suffer an automatic 10-point penalty for collapsing into administration under the weight of a £2m tax debt.

Feb 22: Cash-strapped club forced to make "a number of redundancies" to help aid their battle for financial survival.

March 1: Portsmouth administrator Trevor Birch reveals club may not be able to complete the Championship season. Birch says Pompey will not receive parachute payments from the Premier League as they will go straight to former owner Gaydamak.

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Marsdinho

Marsdinho

Posted
Posted
May 27, 2009: Portsmouth reveal takeover bid from Sulaiman Al Fahim.

July 1: Glen Johnson sold to Liverpool for £18 million.

July 21: Al Fahim passes Premier League's fit-and-proper persons test and immediately joins Portsmouth board.

July 27: Peter Crouch sold to Tottenham for £9m.

Aug 19: Club open negotiations with a consortium fronted by chief executive Peter Storrie over a possible takeover.

Aug 26: Al Fahim finally completes takeover.

Aug 28: Sylvain Distin sold to Everton.

Sept 1: Niko Kranjcar sold to Tottenham.

Oct 1: Club admit failing to pay players' wages on time.

Oct 5: Ali Al Faraj becomes new owner after acquiring 90 per cent of the shares from Al Fahim.

Oct 7: Avram Grant appointed director of football.

Oct 28: Premier League issue embargo on Portsmouth registering new players until they pay off debts to Chelsea and Arsenal for the signings of Glen Johnson and Lassana Diarra respectively.

Oct 30: Portsmouth receive loan of around £17m from Portpin Limited, a company which is owned by Balram Chainrai.

Nov 24: Manager Paul Hart sacked.

Nov 26: Club announce Grant will be their next manager.

Dec 3: Portsmouth confirm payment of players' wages has again been delayed.

Dec 4: Club announce players have been paid.

Dec 5: Grant earns his first points with a 2-0 win over Burnley at Fratton Park.

Dec 10: Portsmouth respond to speculation over their future by insisting they are not about to go into administration. In a statement they also reveal HM Revenue and Customs have been paid £2m and "other historical arrears are being dealt with on an ongoing basis." The club also stresses Storrie will not be leaving his post as chief executive.

Dec 19: Beat Liverpool 2-0 at Fratton Park.

Dec 30: HMRC issue a winding up petition against Portsmouth. Club say petition is in respect of "VAT, PAYE and national Insurance contributions which either have been, or are about to be paid, or are disputed". They outline their willingness to fight HMRC in the High Court.

Dec 31: Former owner Alexandre Gaydamak claims he is still owed £28m by Portsmouth. Confirmation that the players and staff have not been paid on time for the third time in four months.

Jan 28, 2010: Premier League lifts transfer embargo for loan and free transfers after confirming Portsmouth no longer owe other clubs any money. The league had diverted around £5m of Portsmouth's broadcast payments direct to other clubs.

Jan 29: Storrie suggests his position is almost untenable after negotiations to sell Asmir Begovic and Younes Kaboul take place without his knowledge.

Jan 31: Transfer window closes with Kaboul and Begovic sold for £8.5m. Premier League keeps £2m of those fees to go straight to other clubs that have payments due from Portsmouth at the end of January.

Feb 2-3: All Portsmouth staff and players belatedly paid for January.

Feb 4: Chainrai becomes fourth different owner of the season, taking the 90 per cent stake that was held by Al-Faraj.

Feb 9: Talks with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs break down as fears grow for Portsmouth's future as a football club.

Feb 10: High Court give the club one week to draw up a statement of its financial affairs as it bids to avoid the HMRC winding-up order.

Feb 17: Portsmouth present statement of financial affairs at High Court.

Feb 18: The club confirm they have asked the Premier League for permission to sell players outside the transfer window.

Feb 20: Bid to trade outside the transfer window rejected by the Premier League.

Feb 21: Storrie reveals a South African consortium is pursuing a deal to buy the cash-strapped club.

Feb 22: Former owner Al Fahim quits as non-executive chairman at Fratton Park and passes on his 10 per cent shareholding to the club's supporters' trust.

Feb 23: Chainrai confirms Portsmouth will go into administration if they have not found a new buyer by Feb 26. Earlier, New Zealand-based businessman Victor Cattermole admits his interest in buying Portsmouth, but says a deal will not be in place before the club's date at the High Court on March 1.

Feb 25: The club's owner's spokesman confirms Portsmouth have started the process of going into administration.

Feb 26: Portsmouth confirm they have gone into administration.

March 1: HMRC challenge the voluntary administration process.

March 6: A 2-0 home win over Birmingham in the FA Cup quarter-finals relieves the pressure at Fratton Park.

March 10: Administrator Andrew Andronikou confirms 85 of the club's employees have been made redundant but that he is receiving "enquiries on a daily basis" regarding a takeover.

March 12: Storrie steps down as chief executive, but continues to work for the club as a consultant.

March 16: HMRC officially drops its challenge over Portsmouth's move into administration.

March 17: The Premier League confirm Portsmouth have been deducted nine points with immediate effect for going into administration.

April 10: Relegation to the Championship confirmed as West Ham beat Sunderland.

April 11: Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham after extra-time in a semi-final at Wembley.

May 15: Beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

May 20: Manager Grant resigns following the end of the season.

June 1: New chief executive David Lampitt takes up his role.

Jun 17: Tax officials insist the club still owe £37m in unpaid bills to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Jun 18: Steve Cotterill signs a three-year deal to become the club's new manager.

Jul 15: HMRC lodge papers in the High Court to appeal the Company Voluntary Agreement with Portsmouth, which could prevent the club exiting administration.

Aug 5: HMRC lose their case in the High Court and say they do not intend to appeal, clearing Portsmouth to begin the Championship season at Coventry on Saturday.

Aug 7: Season starts with a 2-0 defeat.

Sept 24: Pompey beat Leicester 6-1 at Fratton Park to register their first league win of the campaign.

Oct 19: A fourth win in five Championship games - the other was a draw - moves Pompey to within five points of the play-off places after 12 matches.

Oct 22: Portsmouth issue a statement claiming "it appears likely that the club will now be closed down and liquidated" by the administrators as they are unable to support the continued trading of the club.

Oct 24: The Football League agree Portsmouth’s exit from administration on the condition that owner Chainrai cannot take any capital out of the club until all of the creditors are repaid.

Oct 29: Portsmouth confirm the appointment of Chainrai as the club's new chairman.

Dec 16: Portsmouth manager Cotterill's selection problems hindered further as club can't afford salaries of Richard Hughes and Michael Brown.

June 1, 2011: Portsmouth have another set of new owners after Convers Sports Initiatives, controlled by London-based Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, confirm they had bought the Fratton Park outfit following approval by the Football League.

Oct 14: Cotterill leaves Portsmouth to become Nottingham Forest's new manager.

Nov 10: Pompey confirm Michael Appleton has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal to become their new manager.

Nov 23: A Europe-wide arrest warrant his issued in Lithuania for Antonov, the joint owner of Portsmouth, for alleged forgery.

Nov 29: CSI, the company that bought Portsmouth in June, goes into administration following the arrest of its main shareholder, Antonov.

Jan 24, 2012: Portsmouth issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid tax bill of £1.6million.

Feb 13: Portsmouth apply to go into administration for the second time in two years and face incurring a 10-point deduction from the Football League.

Feb 17: Portsmouth are separated from relegation by goal difference alone after the stricken Championship club suffer an automatic 10-point penalty for collapsing into administration under the weight of a £2m tax debt.

Feb 22: Cash-strapped club forced to make "a number of redundancies" to help aid their battle for financial survival.

March 1: Portsmouth administrator Trevor Birch reveals club may not be able to complete the Championship season. Birch says Pompey will not receive parachute payments from the Premier League as they will go straight to former owner Gaydamak.

 

That is a work of art.

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aintforever

aintforever

Posted
Posted

This is just the administrator playing cat and mouse with football league/Prem.

 

I expect money will be forwarded so they can see out the season, don't fancy their chances of lasting through the summer. the FL won't give a monkeys if they go bast after the last fixture is played. In fact they will be glad to be rid of the headache and delightfully offer Huddersfield, Sheff Weds or MK Dons a place in the Championship.

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SuperMikey

SuperMikey

Posted
Posted

I might be in a minority thinking this, but I hope P*mpey get bought by somebody and don't go bust. I want them to be severely punished for their misdemeanours, but I want them to remain competitive in our rivalry and stay in existence in their current form. I think a best-case scenario for me is for them to get bought by somebody, agree a CVA and then get relegated after selling their best players to pay for some of their debt and then be in L1 for 3-4 years while we take the Prem by storm!

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Picard

Picard

Posted
Posted
haha - silly Phil got accused by Ho of getting stuff wrong!

 

 

A little bit like Avram calling you a pervert....or

 

Lampitt laughing at your cashflow forecast.

Harry criticising your handwriting and honesty.

Cotterill saying you need to accept reality.

Al Fahim asking you for a choc ice and telling you your shirt is too small.

Appy asking what happened to your eyebrows.

Cala saying your ideas are fanciful.

Lawrence and Kitson shouting 'greedy' at you.

Storrie accusing you of reckless spending.

Gaydamak calling you a warmonger.

Antonov questioning your ethics.

Al Faraj suggesting you up your public profile.

Ben Haim saying you should give value for money.

Andronikou questioning your conflict of interests.

TCWTB saying you look ridiculous.

 

 

Yes you did read it correctly, Ho accused someone of getting stuff wrong.:o

 

v funny!

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The9

The9

Posted
Posted
The FL will not allow them to fail before the end of the season, because it would, in their eyes, be catastrophic to have to " readjust" the CCC table by docking all points prior to them folding

 

Simples

 

They've done it plenty of times before - what's the difference between removing a team and skewing the table with points penalties which they don't seem bothered about at all? There's nothing catastrophic about it.

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The9

The9

Posted
Posted
I might be in a minority thinking this, but I hope P*mpey get bought by somebody and don't go bust. I want them to be severely punished for their misdemeanours, but I want them to remain competitive in our rivalry and stay in existence in their current form. I think a best-case scenario for me is for them to get bought by somebody, agree a CVA and then get relegated after selling their best players to pay for some of their debt and then be in L1 for 3-4 years while we take the Prem by storm!

 

You got that right. In the first sentence, the rest was nonsense. Personally I can't wait to see them get their payback for 2007/8.

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Bearsy

Bearsy

Posted
Posted (edited)

they was just interviewing some pompey journo on talksport. i can't report what was said though as i werent really concentrating, it was something about what a great history pompey have and how proud they all are of their club.

Edited by Bearsy
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The9

The9

Posted
Posted
This is just the administrator playing cat and mouse with football league/Prem.

 

I expect money will be forwarded so they can see out the season, don't fancy their chances of lasting through the summer. the FL won't give a monkeys if they go bast after the last fixture is played. In fact they will be glad to be rid of the headache and delightfully offer Huddersfield, Sheff Weds or MK Dons a place in the Championship.

 

They already did that in 2010, we already know what happened then. Why would anyone do the same again?

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anothersaintinsouthsea

anothersaintinsouthsea

Posted
Posted
83

thereader

Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 05:02 PM

I have heard this through the grape vine. Sadly Portsmouth will not complete the season. I really hope this reliable source is talking rubbish for once. He has informed me ţthat Portsmouth will partner up with United Services Portsmouth. If you've not seen already, the United Services pitch on Park Road, which is the road leading into Gunwharf, is undergoing massive improvements. The entire pitch was dug up last week ago and a mass amount of draining systems have been installed. They have also been leveling out the grounds too. This is apparently in preparation for next season. It is believed that by the newly formed Portsmouth playing there, Gunwharf has the potential to further flourish too.I really do hope this isn't the case, but I thought i'd give you all a heads up on the possibility. PUP

 

Um!! That's where HCC used to play methinks!

 

Most if not all of the pitches are owned by the RN. This has got to be bull****.

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Micky

Micky

Posted
Posted
@pn_neil_allen: 'Just too many cumbersome and fiscally imprudent contracts signed that in our view would only further plunder club all over again' #Pompey

 

So pretty much what the investigative geniuses on here have been saying for the past 2 years then. Ho?

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Fowllyd

Fowllyd

Posted
Posted
Have to say I'm in your camp Hypo as despite it being a total clusterfck I just think the footballing authorities will let them slip away.

 

But what can the football authorities do? Where will they let Pompey slip away to, exactly? I'm sure the Football League would prefer them to see out the season as it would obviate the need to adjust points totals (which would be messy and cause much gnashing of teeth, especially at West Ham and a few other clubs). The flip side of that coin, though, is the likely consequences of doing something to keep them afloat. Put simply, no team could realistically sue the FL for doing nothing more or less than applying its own rules (club is liquidated, points are expunged), whereas it's easy to envisage legal action if they go out of their way to prop up an ailing club to the detriment of others. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some senior figures at the FL who'd be quite happy to see a relatively high-profile club go to the wall, if only "pour encourager les autres".

 

The other factor is that what Pompey need is money - and rather a lot of it - just to get as far as the end of the season. Would the FL have that sort of money? I can't see it somehow. The Premier League might have, but what do they care? They were happy to advance money to PFC two years ago, as it saved them considerable embarrassment, and they knew full well that Pompey were never going to stay up, especially with the nine-point penalty. But now? They won't give a flying one, as it doesn't affect their precious brand. In addition to which, any action by the PL would be every bit as subject to legal challenge as would action by the FL.

 

As for the FA, they're all probably just sitting and giggling at it all. They couldn't do anything about a League matter even if they wanted to, and I very much doubt that they would want to anyway.

 

The way I see it, they need a massively wealthy, massively stupid buyer - and they need that buyer within a couple of weeks. History is all they've got, and history is what they'll be.

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Frank's cousin

Frank's cousin

Posted
Posted

Dear Football League

 

Re. Maintaining the integrity of the Competition

 

The Football League has to its long standing credit always maintained that the integrity of its league competitions is paramount and that it is vital to ensure a fair and credible competitive environment for all clubs that own their 'golden share'.It is with that in mind that I feel compelled to write and ask you to address the following questions and issues as I believe its is vital if the credibilty and integrity of the league is maintained.

 

1. Following Portsmouth's second administration in as amnay years, it has emerged that they have still not paid a single non secured creditor a single £1 from the CVA agreed that allowed them to exit administration the last time - yet we have heard today from their current Administrator that this CVA is in effect 'dead' and that a new CVA will have to be agreed - which is likely to result in a further dilution of the monies the original creditors will receive. Can the football league confirm that there are appropriate additional sporting sanctions in place that will result from this inabilty to service the previous CVA as originally agreed with creditors? Surely, failure to introduce additional sanctions sets a dangerous precedent in that it in effect allows clubs to take the standard 10 point penalty by entering administration, to reduce CVA payments from a previous administration, thus bypassing the existing sanctions that the Football league impose for exiting administration without a CVA in place.

 

2. Coventry, Nottingham Forest and Doncaster as well as other clubs currently in the Championship relegation battle, have tried to run their finances within a tight and highly restrictive budget - something that has undoubtedly contributed to their difficult seasons. They have promoted youth and academy players to their 1st team squads to avoid the wage demands of more experienced professionals and have thus been forced to make the difficult decision to potentially compromise their Championship status to avoid the financial turmoil we see at Portsmouth. Can the Football league please explain how the credibilty and integrity of the competition is being maintained by allowing Portsmouth to aquire loan players from West Bromich Albion, players with premiership experience when others can not? - Surely a fairer system would have been to allow Portsmouth only to loan players from within the Championship or lower to ensure Portsmouth were not given an unfair competitive advantage outside of the transfer and loan windows? PLeas eexplain the logic in this as to any football fan, the advantage granted to Portsmouth appears unfair and directly compromises the integrity of teh competition, in direct opposition the Football leagues own ethos?

 

3. Developments today and reports from the administrator of Portsmouth Football club suggest there is a possibilty that the club may not be in a position to fullfil its fixtures or be liquidated before the end of the season. Surely if there is the slightest chance that this may happen, it would be in the best interests of the competition to remove them from the competition sooner rather than later - there is a real danger that simply letting them fullfil fixtures wil impact on the integrity of the league as players and staff may struggle (understandibly so) to find the approriate motivation to compete if knowing they are to be liquidated or relagated through additioanl points deductions/sanctions before the seasons end - something that those clubs who have already played against portsmouth may rightly consider to be detrimental to their promotion/relegation battles.

 

4. I do not want to see clubs fail or go out of business, but for the long term interests of the game, it is perhaps almost vital that we see a high profile club given the appropriate sanctions - real and effective punishments that will act as a wake up call to all clubs who have a financial policy build on no foundation, one that is high risk and leaves the entire future of the clubs exposed. Whilst it is tough on the fans this is a club that spent 7 years in the Premier League yet spent no one penny on infrastructure, teh aging ground, youth development or training facilities, instead it racked up huge debts without a long term realistic plan to pay it back, for a fleeting success in the cup and then simply walked away owing over £80 million to non-secured creditors - who are now in a position where they are unlikely to see more than 4p in the £1 despite originally agreeing on 20p, and not yet having received a single penny - please tell me and the rest of the footballing 'family' how this is considered fair, sporting, ethical or equates to the leagues principles of 'maintaining the integrity of the competition'?

 

I hope that in this case, the Football League have the will and strength of character to ensure this is NOT allowed to go on and that the sad situation at Portsmouth will become a lesson learned for all clubs who seek competitive advantage through high risk borrowings and enter into contracts with players well in excess of what their revenue, their fan base or infrastructure can sustain.

 

Yours faithfully

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